Automobile box car door post



June 13, 1933; CONRAD ET AL 1,914,194

AUTOMOBILE BOX QAR DOOR PQST Filed May 22. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 June 1933- D. E. CONRAD ET AL AUTOMQBILE BOX CAR DOOR POST 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIII m I Filed May 22, 1930 gwoemtoz DZZUonraJ K Bald/1 Patented June 13, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHOE DAVID E. CONRAD, OF ELDON, IOWA, AND VAN V. BALDWIN, F OMAHA, NEBRASKA,

ASSIGNORS ILLINOIS TO CAMEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF AUTOMOBILE BOX CAR DOOR POST Application filed May 22,

This invention relates to car doors of the lift type with which lifting mechanism disclosed in the patentsto David E. Conrad, Numbers 1,569,799 and 1,635,926, anted January 12, 1926 and July 12, 1927, respectively may, if desired, be employed and particularly to car doors for use on automobile box cars, but which cars are used either for grain or other commodities or for carrying automobiles. Automobile box cars have two doors on each side of the car usually designated 'as main and auxiliary doors. The present invention has for its object the provision of a double sliding door and the provision of apost attached to the auxiliary door at the vertical margin thereof which abuts against the other door, provision being made whereby this post is locked in position so that the door having the post cannot be shifted unless the lock or latch for this door is released.

A further objecti's to provide a construction of this character wherein the doors must be raised to release the door to permit it to be slid longitudinally, the doors when raised, moving upwardly and: outwardly, and to provide means as before stated on one of the doors which will prevent this doorfrom ordinarily being raised until the post attached to this'door is released, this release permitting this door to be shifted upwardly and outwardly where it may be slid longitudinally of the car.

Another object is to provide this door with a post which when the door is lowered and forced into contact with the car will have its lower end fitted within a recess in the floor of the car and which carries at its upper end a member which when rotated in one direction, will force the door post downwardly or prevent any upward movement thereof and which must be released before the door post and door can be raised and moved outwardly,

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a fragmentary front eleva- 1930. Serial No. 454,727.

tion of a car showing the adjacent portions of two sliding doors; 7

Figure 2 is a sectionon the line 22 of Figure 1; I

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 4 -4=.o.f Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the upper end of the door post and the locking device therefor.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 3.

Referring to these drawings, in Figure 1 we have illustrated fragmentarily, the adoining portions of two sliding doors A and B which, as shown, preferably embody metallic panels corrugated both horizontally and vertically, each of these doors being capable of upward and outward movements.

lVhen the door sect-ions are lowered and shifted inward, they will be locked by the means shown in the patents before referred to. As they are raised, they will automatically move outward and move out of locking position when they may be shifted longitudinally upon the rails 10, which rails are normally lowered but are raised by means of cam-plates 11 mounted at intervals upon each of the rails, these cam-plates having upwardly extending slots 12, which ride upon pins 13 mounted upon brackets 14. All of these parts are fully illustrated in the patents before referred to. 'When the rails are shifted longitudinally by lever mechanism not shown in the present application, the rails will ride upward and by contact with the supporting wheels 15 mounted upon the door will raise the door. In lifting the door, the door will move upwardly and outwardly and will be then free to slide longitudinally.

The present invention consists in mounting upon one of these doors, as for instance the door A, the post 16 as shown in Figures 2 and 3, this post having bolted to it, the angle iron 17 which is flanged at 18 to fit over an angle iron 19 mounted upon the door section B so that the flange 18 extends over the channel iron 19, the two flanges bein abutted when the doors A and B are 8105661. The sheet metal of the door A is engaged along its margin with the angle iron 17 and with the post l6by' means of"'t-he bolts 20 or equivalent means. The post'16 is of wood and its lower end is sheathed with metal as at 21, although it is to be-understood that a ries upon it the cap 24; (see Figure 3),'this so cap being formed upon one side face with the arcuate offset portion or rib '25. Pivoted upon the'cap' lis latch 26 (see Figures 3 and 6), this latch 'b'eii'n'g' inwardly extendd to form an arcuate shoulder '27 fitting over the arcuate rib or shoulder the upper e nd of thedat'ch being formed with a flanged head 28'. The latch' 'is mounted upon a pivot bolt 29 and one of the lower corners of the latch is pivoted in offset relav tion to the bolt 29 by the bolt 30 to an operating rod 31 which extends downward through a guide 32, the lower end of this rod having the handle 33 of any suitable character whereby the rod'inay be operated.

The sill of the door opening immediately beneath the post is designated 34 and this is formed with a recess 35 having upwardly flared side walls 36 within which the tapered lower end of the casing 21 may fit when the door is lowered. When, therefore, the door is lowered'and held from any upward move ment, the portion 22 at the lower end of the post engaging the recess 35 will prevent the door A from being shifted longitudinally and laterally.

The cap 24 'is provided with the upwardly extending flanges 37 and. 38, the flange 38 extending vertically and the flange 37 extending upwardly and outwardly. These flanges'in the closed position of the doors embrace 2. lug 39carried by the side plate of the car and shown in Figures 3 and 4:. This lug is preferably of the same width as the door post.

This guide lug by reason of the fact that the inner face thereof is upwardly and outwardly inclined will permit the door post to move upwardly and outwardly when the latch 26 is released, but when the latch 26 is turned to the position shown in Figure 3, the upper face of this latch bears against the under face of the lug 39 and holds the door against any upward movement. WVhen, however, the latch is swung from the position shown in Figure 3, to a position where fromany vertical movement or from any longitudinal movement. If, however; it be desired to use the car as an automobile car, then both doors will be moved longitudinally to fully disclose the door opening in the side of'the'car." It is'to be particularly noted that'this door post drops into place when the door has been shifted to its closed posi- :85

tion and lowered while in other constructions known to me, the door post slides into place.

It will'be noted from Figures 3, 4 and 7 that the face of the lug 39 is concave and that the face of the flange 38; is convex so that these-two surfaces will fit and lock together. Thus the post islocked against vertical, longitudinal and lateral movement when the parts are in the position shown in Figure Thus when the latch 26 is in the position shown in Figure 3, it holds the post from raising up and this keeps the post locked at the top and solid at the bottom. As before stated, the latch 26 has a shoulder 27 as best shown in Figure 6, which engages over the shoulder 25 on the door post casting. By the provision of the shoulders 25 and 27 the pressure between the latch 26 and the lug 39 is carried by these shoulders so that the pivot bolt 29 is relieved of any strain. Of course, it will be understood that as the door is raised up and moves outwardly, the face of the part 38 will clear the concave face of the lug 39 and allow the door to be opened.

A post constructed in accordance with our invention not only serves the purpose of the ordinary post when used for grain car doors, but also, inasmuch as the post bears against the side plate and also bears firmly against the floor of the car makes the car more rigid at the top in the center of the large door opening than is possible with other forms of post known to us.

It is to be noted that doors constructed in accordance with our inventions are to be preferably applied to all steel cars and that the doors are then to be made of sheet metal corrugated so as to secure strength and that while the doors may be operated in accordance with the patents granted to David E. Conrad. Numbers 1,569,799 and 1,635,926 before referred to any desired lifting and operating mechanism may be used. The post construction acts to lock the door to which it is applied from ordinarily being moved, and prevents the door from being shifted into any position until the latch 26 has been released.

lVe claim I 1. In a car having double doors and means for manually raising the doors to permit the doors to be shifted longitudinally, a post attached to the inner face of one of said doors at its margin abutting the other door, said post at its lower end having a metallic casing formed with a downwardly extending protuberant portion having inwardly inclined side faces, the floor of the car immediately below said post when the door is closed being formed with a socket to receive said downwardly protuberant portion and thus lock the post from any movement when the post is lowered except upward, the side plate of the door opening immediately above the post having a downwardly projecting lug formed with a straight outer face and an upwardly and outwardly inclined inner face, a cap mounted upon the upper end of the post and having an upwardly extending outer flange and an upwardly and outwardly ext-ending inner flange between which said lug is received, the cap being recessed upon one face and a latch mounted upon this face of the cap, the latch having an inwardly extending portion at its normally upper end extending into said recess and at its upper end bearing against the lug on the side plate of the door to prevent the post and door from being raised when the latch is in its vertical position. said latch when turned to a horizontal position, permitting the lifting of the door and the post, and manually operable means extending along the post whereby the latch may be turned.

2. In a car having double sliding doors, a post attached to the margin of one of the doors, the post having at its lower end a member interlocking with the floor of the car, and'preventing the lower end of the post from moving in any direction except upward, latching means attached to the post and operatively engaging with the side plate of the door opening provided in said car in one position of the latching means to prevent the door from rising and in another position disengaged from the side plate to permit the door and post to be lifted, and means when the post is lowered and latched in position locking the upper end of the post against longitudinal movement.

3. In a car having double sliding doors, said doors having means whereby they may be raised to permit the doors to be shifted longitudinally. a post attached to the margin of one of the doors, the post having at s lower end a member in erlocking with the floor of the car when the door has been iowcred and thus pre ennn the lower end of the post from moving in any direction except upward, and manually releasable means" at the upper end of the post for looking it against upward movement.

4. In a house car, in combination, a slid ing door, a post secured thereto, said car and said post having portions adapted to have interengaging relationship with each other when said door is in its lowermost position to prevent sliding movement'there of and to clear eachother when said door is elevated, and releasable means carried by said post adapted to abut means provided on said car to prevent elevating movement of said door from'its lowermost position.

5. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door, a post secured thereto, said post at the bottom thereof having engagement with said door in a predetermined lowered position of said door to prevent sliding-movement thereof, means engaging said car and said post adjacent the top thereof to prevent elevation of said door and disengagement of said post and car, andmeans for releasing said last mentioned means for the purpose set forth.

- 6. In arailway house car, in combination, a sliding door, a post secured thereto, elevating means for said door, said post at the bottom thereof having engagement with said "car in a predetermined lowered position of said door to prevent sliding movement thereof, means independent of said elevating means engaging said car and said post adjacent the top thereof to prevent elevation of said door and disengagement of said post and car, and means for releasing said last mentioned means for the purpose set forth. 7. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door, a post secured thereto, said post at the bottom thereof having engagement with said car in a predetermined lowered position of said door to prevent sliding movement thereof, means operable to engage said car and exert a downward pressure on said post to prevent elevation of said door and disengagement "of said post and car, and means for releasing said last mentioned means for the purpose set forth.

8. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door, a post secured thereto, said post at the bottom thereof having engage ment with said car in a predetermined lowered position of said door to prevent sliding movement thereof, means comprising a pivoted cam carried by said post adapted to abut said car to prevent elevation of said door and disengagement of said post and car, and means for releasing said cam for the purpose set forth.

9. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door, a post secured thereto, means for elevating said door, means adapted to abut said car and to engage said post in a predetermined lowered position of said door to prevent elevation thereof and means for releasing said last mentioned means.

10. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door capable of elevating and lowering movements, a reinforcing post secured to said door adjacent a vertical margin thereof, and releasable means carried by said post for abutting engagement with said car to prevent elevation of said door from its lowered position.

[1. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door capable of elevating and lowering movements, a post secured to said door'adjacent a vertical edge thereof, relatively stationary latching members provided on said post adjacent the top and bottom thereof, cooperahle stationary detent members secured to said car engagable with said latching-members in a predetermined lowered position of said door to prevent sliding movement thereof, said upper latching member and its cooperating detent member having vertically extending concave interengaging portions.

12. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door capable of elevating and outwardmovement and lowering and inward movement, a stationary latching member secured to said door, a cooperating stationary detent member secured to said car, said members being disengaged by the elevating and outward movement of said door and engaged by the lowering and inward movement of said door.

13. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door capable of elevating and outward movement and lowering and. inward movement, a vertical reinforcing member carried by said door adjacent a vertical edge thereof, stationary detent members secured to said car having interlocking engagement with said reinforcing member in the lowered and inward position of said door, said detent members and said reinforcingmember being disengaged by the upward and outward movement of said door.

In testimony whereof we hereunto afiix our signatures.

DAVID E. CONRAD. VAN V. BALDWIN. 

